8of10Georgia Tech center Ben Lammers (44) grabs a rebound as North Carolina forward Kennedy Meeks (3) vies for the ball during the first half on Dec 31, 2016, in Atlanta.Photo: John Amis /Associated Press

9of10Brennan’s John Azzinaro (left) tries to get a shot past Alamo Heights’ Ben Lammers during the first half of their boys basketball Region IV-4A final at Littleton Gym on March 2, 2013.Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /San Antonio Express-News

The former Alamo Heights standout said he has heard coaches imploring him to be meaner in the post throughout his basketball career.

Suddenly in his junior season at Georgia Tech, he has blossomed into one of the top inside players in the country.

“I’ve basically had coaches yelling at me to be more aggressive my whole life,” Lammers said. “I don’t think I’m ever going to be a mean guy. I usually don’t show much emotion, but I’ve tried to be more assertive when I’m on the court.”

The attitude transformation has helped Lammers develop into perhaps the most improved player in college basketball for the Yellow Jackets under first-year coach Josh Pastner.

Georgia Tech (11-8) was picked to finish 14th in the 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference before the season. But the 6-foot-10, 227-pound Lammers has been one of the key reasons for the team’s growth heading into Wednesday’s game against No. 6 Florida State.

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Ben Lammers

College: Georgia Tech

Position: Center

Class: Junior

Size: 6-10, 227

High school: Alamo Heights

Fast facts: Has notched nine double-doubles in points and rebounds and posted 17 games with double-digit scoring this season … Previous career high before this season was 10 points … 10.9 point-per-game scoring improvement from last season ranks second best in ACC … 36.3 minutes-per-game average ranks fourth in conference.

Tim Griffin

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After averaging less than 15 minutes and 3.6 points a game last season as a sophomore, Lammers now logs 34.8 minutes as Georiga Tech’s best inside threat at center.

Before this year, his career scoring high was 10 points. He has matched or surpassed that total 17 times already this season.

“I always had confidence in my ability, but whether I would be able to project that out to games was always a little under question,” Lammers said. “I’ve been able to perform fairly well, considering my lack of experience, during the last couple of years.”

Lammers ranks third nationally in blocked shots, averaging 3.37 per game. He’s the ACC’s fourth-leading rebounder at 9.6 per game, ranks 21st in scoring (14.5) and is third in field-goal percentage (53.1 percent).

“He’s become a very important player for us,” Pastner said. “We can’t accomplish the goals that we have unless we get great performances from him every night. And so far, he’s played very well for us.”

Several ACC coaches have marveled at Lammers’ development.

“Ben Lammers is really, really good,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said after Lammers produced 23 points and 10 rebounds in the Yellow Jackets’ 75-63 victory on Jan. 12. “He makes it hard on the rim on offense. You can’t score over him. Offensively, he’s talented in that he can score at the rim with his jump hook. He’s making 17-foot jump shots. He’s a very good high-post passer. He’s an elite-level player in this league.”

Veteran Louisville coach Rick Pitino also was effusive in his praise after Lammers went for a career-high 24 points against the Cardinals five days earlier.

“I just think he’s one of the most improved players, not only in the conference, but the country,” Pitino said. “He has an outstanding mid-range shot, he’s a terrific shot blocker, has a good low-post game, gets off his feet and he’s athletic. He does all that you’d want from a big man. He’s a triple threat.”

Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams, a former Texas A&M assistant who has known Lammers and his family since he was young, is impressed with his demeanor and production on the court.

“He shows zero emotion, but he has an incredibly blue-collar work ethic,” Williams said. “With his skill set, you kind of want something to be flashy. But it’s not flashy. It’s very productive.”

That hard work leads Williams, like many other ACC coaches, to believe Lammers has a good chance to eventually play professionally.

“There’s a lot of pros in our league,” Williams said. “Ben will be a longtime pro because of all the things I just rattled off. He’s doing it in the best league in the country, and he’s very effective.”

Lammers’ play surprised Pastner, who didn’t expect such a dramatic transformation after taking over the Georgia Tech program last April following a stint in Memphis.

“It hasn’t exactly been added strength or weight, but it’s just a new mentality,” Pastner said. “He’s accepted the physical part of the game and thrived at it. I’m really proud of where he’s come from. He’s not the same player he was when we took the job after last season.”

Lammers was a 6-footer in sixth grade, but his athleticism was apparent early. His father, Chris, remembers him walking when he was 10 months old and riding a bicycle at 3 — without the benefit of training wheels.

Lammers played a variety of sports while growing up, including soccer and football. He started concentrating on basketball after his freshman season in high school.

Education was as important to Lammers as sports at Alamo Heights, and he knew he wanted to study engineering in college. Such a career track isn’t a surprise considering his dad, an All-City defensive lineman at Churchill in the early 1980s, played at A&M for two seasons before quitting football to focus on studying architecture.

Lammers’ older brother, Nick, a 6-7 former Division III All-American soccer player at Colorado College, now is pursuing his master’s in physics at the University of California-Berkeley.

“The whole side of my dad’s family are either architects or engineers,” Lammers said. “It kind of runs in the family. All of us kind of went through the same thing.”

Lammers was one of the most highly regarded local prep prospects after earning All-State honors each of his last three seasons. He led the Mules to the Class 4A regional finals as a junior and a No. 1 state ranking as a senior before sustaining a season-ending knee injury shortly before the UIL tournament.

He considered Miami, Marquette, Stanford and A&M before picking Georgia Tech because of its basketball program and engineering school.

Sometimes, Tech’s rigorous academic requirements make him question his decision. But Lammers has developed into a dean’s list student whose career trajectory appears set with or without basketball.

“I knew in high school I wanted to get a degree that I would use either right away or later in my life,” Lammers said. “But they didn’t say exactly how hard it would be. I had an idea it would be pretty challenging. But I’m glad I’m here because I’m enjoying it, even though there are some rough nights now and then.”

Tim Griffin has been a journalist for more than 30 years working at a variety of newspapers and websites, including more than 25 years at the San Antonio Express-News. He has covered all four Spurs NBA championship series victories, along with 12 national championship football games and five Final Fours. Griffin has been honored nationally and regionally for his writing and enterprise and was a former national president of the Football Writers Association of America. He is a graduate of the University of Memphis and is married with one son.